Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, and Grab, the leading on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, announced a strategic partnership that will expand Hyundai’s innovative future mobility services in Southeast Asia.

The strategic partnership will help Hyundai explore new opportunities in the sharing economy and enhance its capability to lead future mobility in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, Southeast Asia.

The two companies will jointly explore ways to develop and provide innovative services to Southeast Asian customers, including a new mobility service platform that will utilize Hyundai’s eco-friendly models such as the IONIQ Electric.

“Hyundai’s strategic investment in Grab marks the beginning of an exciting new partnership between the two parties, bringing Hyundai one step closer to realizing its vision for future mobility. Grab’s expertise in the Southeast Asian market coupled with Hyundai’s eco-vehicle leadership will bring innovative services to customers,’’ said Dr. Young Cho Chi, Chief Innovation Officer and head of Strategy & Technology Division, which was established last year to spearhead Hyundai’s future innovation. “We will continue expanding collaboration with leading mobility service providers in the world.”

Grab’s Series G financing marks the company’s latest and largest fundraising round and significant investors including Didi Chuxing, SoftBank, and Toyota Tsusho have participated in the funding together with Hyundai.

“As we move into the next stage of Grab’s growth, we look forward to collaborating closely with Hyundai to continue innovating new mobility solutions for Southeast Asia. We are pleased to welcome Hyundai to our global network of strategic partners, and we are confident that we have an alliance of strong partners to push forward into Grab’s next phase of long-term growth,” said Anthony Tan, Group CEO and Co-founder of Grab.

Focusing on its ‘open innovation’ spirit, Hyundai has been bolstering its efforts to transform people’s lives with disruptive technologies and services that materialize its visions for future mobility – clean, connected and freedom in mobility. Enhancements in mobility services include car-sharing, -hailing and –pooling, all of which benefit users by freeing them from existing mobility limitations.

Hyundai has been enhancing its mobility services in world’s major locations as it is committed to offer smarter value to customers to cope with rapidly-shifting market paradigm in automotive industry. Partnering with WaiveCar, Hyundai in January 2017 launched a car-sharing program that runs on advertising money, using IONIQ Electric model in the U.S. In October, Hyundai opened its first company-operated electric car sharing service in metropolitan Amsterdam, Netherlands, and later in November handed over the first fleet of IONIQ hybrid models for the new Stadtauto (meaning ‘city car’) car sharing service in Vienna, Austria. IONIQ is the world’s first model that offers three electrified powertrain-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and pure battery electric - in a single body type.

Grab operates the largest transportation network in Southeast Asia and is one of the most frequently used mobile platforms in the region with over 3.5 million daily rides. The Grab app has been downloaded onto over 77 million mobile devices, giving passengers access to the region’s largest land transportation fleet comprising over 2.3 million drivers. Grab now offers private car, motorbike, taxi, and carpooling services across 8 countries and 168 cities in Southeast Asia.